Gastro-Intestinal Microbiota in Equines and Its Role in Health and Disease: The Black Box Opens.

Horses are large non-ruminant herbivores and rely on microbial fermentation for energy, with more than half of their maintenance energy requirement coming from microbial fermentation occurring in their enlarged caecum and colon. To achieve that, the gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) of horses harbors a broad range of various microorganisms, differing in each GIT segment, which are essential for efficient utilization of feed, especially to use nutrients that are not or little degraded by endogenous enzymes. In addition, like in other animal species, the GIT microbiota is in permanent interplay with the host's cells and is involved in a lot of functions among which inflammation, immune homeostasis, and energy metabolism.

Evaluation of an active live yeast (Levucell , CNCM l-1077) on receiving and backgrounding period growth performance and efficiency of dietary net energy utilization in low health risk beef steers.

The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the influence of an active live yeast direct-fed microbial (DFM) product on receiving and backgrounding period growth performance and efficiency of dietary net energy (NE) utilization in low health risk beef steers. Maine-Anjou × Angus steers ( = 199; body weight [BW] = 252 ± 32.1 kg) were received from two sources at the Ruminant Nutrition Center in Brookings, SD, in November 2019 and used in a 77-d feedlot receiving and backgrounding experiment.